Paradise Lost John Milton

Puritan Believed an individual’s relationship with God was at the heart of religion Believed each person should develop his own relationship with God through personal study of the Bible Critical of Catholic rituals and ceremony

Paradise Lost Greatest epic poem written during the Renaissance Follows the epic tradition set out by Homer and Virgil (the Classics)

Characteristics of an Epic 1. Begins in medias res (in the middle of the action) - then tells earlier parts of the story in flashback

2. Invokes the muse The heavenly muse of Moses (line 6)

3. Epic Battle Satan’s revolt against God in Heaven

4. Catalog of Warriors Elaborate list of the princes among the fallen angels Milton catalogs the prominent devils in Hell and explains the various names they are known by and which cults worshipped them

5. Formal Tone Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, Sing, Heavenly Muse,…

6. Use of figurative language Fanciful comparisons Metaphors Personification Epic similes: lengthly and developed comparisons

Epic Similes and Satan tell us how big and powerful Satan is Ie. When Satan is lying on the burning lake, Milton compares him to the titans who waged war upon Jove in Greek mythology ie. Then he compares him to a Leviathan, or whale, that is so huge that sailors mistake it for an island and fix their anchor to it. We really don’t know how big Satan is – no one knows how big the titans were or the leviathan

8. Epic Hero Appears at first to be Satan – he has some truly admirable qualities, but also some very evil ones (Milton wanted to demonstrate how appealing Satan was to Adam and Eve) Milton introduces us to the antagonist first – we sees Satan’s struggle – this helps us to appreciate what Adam and Eve are up against

Theme Explicitly stated “to explain the ways of God to man” (line 26) Milton wants to show his fellow man that the fall of humankind into sin and death was part of God’s greater plan, that God’s plan is justified

Uncharacteristic of an Epic Written in blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) Has an absent epic hero (Christ)